Between the Lines
by The-Mighty-Floyd
Summary: Continuing stories of Discworld, where things happen that are stranger and more familiar than here... A series of short tales about what happens around the books. INDEFINITE HIATUS
1. Rincewind's Folly

Between the Lines: Tales of the Discworld

Created by Terry Pratchett

Written by The Mighty Floyd

"Rincewind's Folly"

In the beginning was nothing. Then, the Words were spoken, and, slowly, the Universe came into being. Stars flared to life. Big balls of rock came together and made bigger balls of rock, with little balls of rock floating around them. And, in one far-flung corner of the Universe, there was a Disc, supported on the backs of four elephants, in turn supported on the back of a giant turtle. And a Voice spoke thus: "Oh, bugger. That wasn't right..."

_This is the Discworld..._

Rincewind hid. He was good at hiding. He was even better at running, to tell the truth, but in such a small space there wasn't enough room to really pick up speed. So, hiding was definitely the better option.

He didn't know why so many people seemed to chase him. It had been that way since he could remember. He would be minding his own business, when behind him would come that terrible shout: "Oi! Let's pound that little bugger!" Invariably it would be followed by cheers and the sound of rapidly approaching feet.

He wasn't really sure why he was being chased this time. It wasn't as though he'd meant to leave that flask over the flame while he went to check on something on the other side of the classroom. Was it his fault if those chemicals were highly unstable?

But there you had it. He could never seem to get a break. It wasn't even as if he was particularly good at being a wizard. Just because no one else would take him, he'd been sent to Unseen University to "become a man" or, failing that, a toad or something.

The sound of pounding feet faded into the distance, but he decided to stay in the little room he had taken refuge in. He knew of too many instances where mobs had doubled back without warning to take the unwary by surprise. He felt that this wasn't right. Mobs should be straightforward, unthinking masses. They shouldn't have some bright guy to say, "Hey! What if he got behind us?" He felt with the firm conviction of the oft harrassed that mobs should never cover the same ground twice.

For the first time, he heard a humming. It was low and deep, a throbbing that didn't enter the mind through the ears, but through the whole body. He turned around, and nearly bolted when he saw where he was.

The Book was held down by the heaviest of chains. The room was kept icy cold to make it sluggish. It still strained against its bonds, seeming at any moment to be i danger of breaking free. This was the Octavo, which held the eight spells spoken to create the Universe.

Rincewind tried to back away, but his feet failed him. Soon, so did his instinct for self-preservation. A whispering seemed to penetrate his mind through the hum.

_Open me_, it said. _Read me. Speak me._

He started to move toward the book. He couldn't stop himself. He strained against the force, but kept going, so that soon he was walking nearly parallel to the ground, bent over backward, trying not to approach the book, it was so inviting, _Open me_, he reached out, undid the clasp, turned the cover...

The door burst open, and several senior wizards burst in, just as Rincewind fell gasping to the floor. One slammed the book shut, but it was too late. A spell had wormed into Rincewind's head, and nothing except saying it would get it out.

And that's where his troubles really began...


	2. Koom Valley

Between the Lines: Tales of the Discworld

Created by Terry Pratchett

Written by The Mighty Floyd

"Koom Valley"

The trolls and the dwarfs are natural enemies. Everyone knows this to be true. For all of their existence they have fought one another, battling endlessly through time. They battle under the sky, and under the ground, and through it all, the world moves on, unperturbed by the gnats killing each other other upon it, and the elephants underneath, and the world turtle, plodding through space until the end of the world.

_This is the Discworld..._

"To you, him diamond. Him king of trolls. You knob bags give him respect."

"B'hrian Bloodaxe, Low King of the Dwarfs, has arrived. All reverence the champion of dwarfdom."

The two natural enemies stood in front of each other, looking one another up and down. In the case of the troll, this didn't take him very long. They nodded to each other, and sat.

"So, we meet at last," said the Low King.

"Indeed. This has been long in the making," replied the diamond troll.

"A peace that will last to the end of time," finished the dwarf. "Do you have it?"

"Of course," the troll told him. He pulled a stone board from somewhere, and placed it on the flat rock between them. "Do you have the pieces?"

"Here," said the dwarf, setting a bag on the board.

The two spent a short while arranging the pieces, while both sides watched them warily.

"Please, begin," the dwarf said.

"Thank you," replied the troll, and he moved a stone dwarf across the board. The game had begun.

"Do you acquiesce your claims to this mountain?"

Click.

"Do you acquiesce that plain?"

Click.

The game continued, as the peace was put in its final arrangement. Neither player looked at the other, seemingly absorbed in his next move, yet each aware that one false step could end the entire process suddenly and, most likely, violently.

Finally, they raised their heads, and looked each other in the eye. On the board between them, a dwarf and a troll stood face to face, the last two pieces remaining on the board.

"Marvelously played," the troll congratulated the dwarf.

"And you," the other replied in kind.

And, suddenly, it all came crashing down around them as, from both sides, shouts of "Ambush" rose between the mountains. Weapons appeared as though by magic, and both sides charged.

The two kings could not be heard over the clash of battle as dwarf and troll met and killed. The tenuous peace was broken.

And suddenly, boulders fell from the sky, and swirling water rose from the ground, and the kings and their retainers were swept away, deep under the ground, to their eventual deaths, to one day be discovered by Samuel Vimes, along with the record of their peace.


End file.
